Chương 456: 456

Mark landed on the grasses outside of the farms, tucking away his rotors into a coin that went into his pocket. The trees stopped waving in the wind as Mark's downdraft died, and the cows calmed up ahead, their mooing quieting now that Mark was out of line of sight. Reeni was around here somewhere, according to Quark and to tracking from cameras set up in the city. Pearl, Amy, and Uva were also around here somewhere. … Which brought up another issue.

Mark said to Quark, "Quark; Please ask Eliot about tracking systems for people in the city, with specific regard to assassin concerns.

'What methods are being used to ensure that assassins cannot use those systems against us'. That sort of thing. Thank you."" At once, sir," Quark said, followed by, "I have lodged the question to Eliot's inbox, which is at-capacity at the moment. So I have posted the question to your private accord." Mark nodded…

and then he walked down a dirt road beside tall apple trees, glancing at machines that were picking apples, and at people walking between those rows of apple trees and doing some Farmer magic to the soil, to the plants connected everywhere, to the ecosystem that was the farms. Those guys didn't pay any attention to Mark because he had switched out for normal clothes and he didn't carry floating adamantium around with him everywhere he went anymore.

Still, some workers noticed him, and a drone floated by with a vector inside of it, put there by someone with a Tinkerer Talent, and that drone paused, almost startled, as it saw Mark. And then the drone rapidly kept going. Mark kinda wondered about that drone person. Usually Tinkerers interfaced through their technology via normal technological means; radio waves, hard lines, sight lines sometimes. Tinkerers were not, by and large, seers.

So either that Tinkerer was a seer, or they had a variant Power that allowed them to spread their astral body out super thin, even turning it into radio waves, or some such thing. Eliot's Castellan did exactly that, though he wasn't spread out on radio waves at all; he was spread out on the space he designated as his 'castle'... Any moment now, Reeni was either going to pop out from behind a tree, or else she was busy. But that didn't happen.

Reeni was apparently busy, so Mark got to have a nice little walk as he went to go find her. When Mark found her, 15 calming minutes later, she was by a big oak tree that grew from the side of a hill, to then reach over the hill and provide shade to everyone there, which turned out to be Reeni, Pearl, Amy, and Uva. The centuries-old witch sat in a compass-rose formation, with her as the north, and the other three as the East, South, and West…

Of course it could have been some other formation, since there was no compass on the grasses between where they sat, but Mark went with the most-probable interpretation of events. The four women were silent and close-eyed, so Mark couldn't ask them anything. … Mark flickered his sight, filling his vision with the fragment of the divine mirror.

The four witches were deep in confluence with each other, their astral bodies merging and flowing, separating and condensing, like colors in water that could separate when they wanted to separate. Reeni separated now, opening her eyes to look at Mark, while the girls kept flowing together. Reeni stepped away, softly. Mark walked beside her. When Reeni left the shadows of the oak, and the slope of the hill, she said, "Welcome back from the Winter's Ball. What brings you to my little plot of the farms?""

I need a steady stream of Healthy Body powers, and I know the cows have them."" Easily done. Do you have any idea how many you'll go through per day?"" I have no idea," Mark admitted, "I have no idea how Walaria's prisoners are going to take having their Powers stripped from them, though she assures me that I'll have more than enough people voluntarily getting rid of their Powers that stripping powers from the unwilling is not gonna happen for a while.

I'm absolutely sure I'm going to have an ethical disaster, though, or at least a wartime disaster. I'm still trying to figure out what to expect from any of this… or how to classify the end result. Like…" Mark almost got into that, but he had stuff to do, so he said, "I don't think I have a storage limit on my soulhouse, or at least not one that matters, so I want at least 20 Healthy Bodies to start, as soon as possible."

Reeni listened, then answered, "We do 200 head of cattle per day, and around 45% of those have Healthy Body. The females usually end up with Breeder, but not always. I'll alert the slaughterhouse and you can just come by any time, and start stripping Bindings out of them right before we slaughter them." Right! Mark kinda remembered that from the last time he was here. 200 cattle a day, something like 40, 000 kilos of meat for the settlement… Stuff like that. Of course she had enough Healthy Bodies for Mark's needs.

Mark felt a small measure of relief.

"Thank you. I'll send a message before I go over there… but I want to go over there now."" Of course. But before you go… These girls from the capital? How do you feel about them?" It was a Serious Question. Mark told Reeni, "I barely know them, but they work for Walaria, and they were the Witches of Domal'Takela for two years, and apparently that means something? I have no idea. Seems like an important political and personal placement.

Uva and Sally are, if not dating, then at least fooling around, and I think Sally likes Uva. Uva wants my kid, though, which is… kinda fucked up. But…" Mark had a lot of weird emotions about all of that. He cut those emotions down to what he knew, saying, "I don't hate the general arc of that idea, of maybe Sally and Uva raising my kid as their own, but I don't know how Sally feels, and I'm not doing it right now." Reeni took that answer as carefully as one could.

She nodded, and then she said, "One more uncomfortable question: How do you feel about marrying Isoko and having trueborn children of the house you make with Isoko?" Mark felt blindsided in a completely different way, and yet… it wasn't like he never thought about it. Here and there, when he saw Isoko tossing monsters across the sky, or healing all those people of Raptor in Kabberjaw, or when he saw Isoko light up, talking about some show she had been watching and her trajectory in the Hero/Villain Program…

Mark still remembered, at the start of the Battle for Memphi, when they were filming that party at the 'Villain's Association' and the four of them, Blackvein, Platinum Princess, Very Human, and Miss Masher, all walked out of the alleyway and they looked up at Credenza fighting Frozenfire in the sky…

Isoko had been full platinum, mirroring the dark world around her, but then all of those splashes of pyrotechnics and shattering ice, the light and the dark, and all the beauty of the world seemed to come out at that moment, and reflect on Isoko's beautiful face. She had been gorgeous in a way that Mark didn't really understand, but which he loved. Colors were pretty, and Isoko was the most beautiful of all. And she was soft, too, when she lay against him on the couch and they ate ice cream and watched whatever.

Soft and warm. And yet, when Mark tried putting those sex toys into his soulhouse, to awaken his desire in a rather unnatural way… he didn't like anyone. He loved each and every person he knew, but like a dragon would. He had wanted to dominate and subjugate and… and make them like it. He wanted to provide and shelter and love, love, love, in every way possible. And it wasn't just Isoko. It had been Sally, and Eliot, and Aurora, too, and every single person near him who came under his purview.

The minor minutes thinking about Derek and all of those positions and possibilities that Derek could take and all of the myriad possibilities of Mark's own mutable body had been pure adrenaline and desire and— Scary. It had been 'probably normal', according to some of the shows and television Mark had seen in his time, and according to how much Mark had seen of Eliot and various girls. And not just Eliot, but a whole lot of people, everywhere.

The walls that people put up for privacy were nonexistent to Mark, especially when Mark was concentrating, trying to understand stuff that he simply didn't experience... And so, Mark's own experience with 'lust' had been normal… right? Mark answered, "I like the idea of Isoko, but that's also not happening right now." Mark changed the subject, asking, "How are you and the 'Witches on the Wall' getting along?" Reeni nodded, walking a bit. Mark walked with her. Reeni said, "I'm just a temporary witch here, Mark.

I might be more than that, for now, for how important this place is, but usually I just set the stage for what comes later. The foundation. Others will come in and work that foundation. And so I believe I can work with and through Pearl, Amy, and Uva well enough. But, if they stay, then they and a few others will be the first real witches of the settlement, and it is good they have gotten here before it had a name. They can help solidify that name." Oh! A name?" I had completely forgotten about the name…

It should have happened last month, but then Nobody Important came along. Is it getting a name, soon? We passed the year mark."" Let's not make too much of a ceremony of it, Mark, and so, to that end, I want you to look at that voting board that had all of the options on it— Quark likely has the list. Pick one, right now." Mark chuckled once, balking…

"You're serious?"" I am serious. I am seriously saying not to make a ceremony out of it. Let's get it done right now." Mark chuckled a bit more solidly, this time, finding the idea… kinda funny, really.

"Sure. I was aiming for 'Castle Black', but Isoko shot that down and no one else seemed to like it… What were the other names? Quark? What's the list of settlement name options?" Quark displayed a list into the air, saying, "These are the top 10 names as well as your own choice of Castleblack."" Oh right. I went for a single word; not two words." Quark said, "That was a requirement of Aurora, actually, so you did put it into the system as 'Castle Black', but it got turned into 'Castleblack'."

- - Valencia Dawncoast Highvein Gateway Gatepass Gateroad Celewich Xygen Bignonia Drazragor Castleblack - - Mark said, "Ah, yeah… Castleblack wasn't even in the running for top 10. I forgot about that… Fuck. Well! How about… Dawncoast? Sure. I like that one. I'll keep Castleblack for my own flying castle." Mark told Reeni, "Dawncoast is the new name."" Love it. Print it! Let's get new stationery made." Mark chuckled.

And then Reeni added, "Not naming it after Aurora's family is a good idea simply for martyrdom-prevention reasons." This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Mark winced.

"I had forgotten that Aurora was pulling for Valencia."" Put it out of your mind," Reeni said.

"The decision is done. Send out some messages to people, naming the place as Dawncoast, and then just tell anyone who disagrees with you whatever you feel like telling them, but I have the feeling that no one is going to disagree with you when you get to naming the place as you desire. Moving on?" Mark shook out his shoulders, and said, "Moving on. What now?"" Let's talk Power farming. I don't know how to do this. This is an entirely new branch of magical study.

You should pay the Church of Verdago to study this for you, and to Farm those places for you as well, but I imagine the whole general order-of-events is going to simmer down to a generalized 'fill this place with X-types of mana and monsters and hope for usable Powers to develop among them'. Put a lot of bunnies down in a Light mana based place and hope for speedsters; that sort of thing." Mark nodded a little.

"Okay! Good to know. Eliot is going to make a mausoleum for some undead and some more Death mana— Ah? Can you help him with that?" Reeni arched an eyebrow. It was a funny look on the very short woman.

"Now why does Eliot want Death mana? Is he going to make a Death Crystal system?" Mark smirked. It seemed that Reeni didn't know everything. Mark said, "Yeah. I gave him Necromancer for his Third Talent." Reeni's eyebrows went up.

"Ohhh! That's what I felt earlier…" She looked around.

"Yes. I had thought Walaria had brought in some Death-specialized witches… but that's just Eliot, is it?"" I assume he's going to need help understanding Necromancy. I will, too. It's a whole Big Thing—"" Yes yes. I won't keep you any longer. Be off with you. Go get some new Bindings— Wait. What Bindings are you looking for, in particular?"" I have no idea… But off the top of my head, Dynamo, strong Bodies of any sort, Natural Powers. Mind Powers. Any sort of Manipulation at all. Shapers are decent— There's a lot.

Elemental Bodies and Shaper Bodies, together, are incredibly strong in ways that they are not strong on their own. Elemental Bodies are difficult to live with, though, and I'm kinda worried about putting those into anyone at all, but if I also have some Natural Powers or maybe human-based Mind Powers to allow such people to be as human as possible, then that seems like a good idea, all around." Reeni nodded, saying, "A lot to think about."" Quite so."" I'll let the slaughterhouse know you're coming."

Mark flicked out some adamantium rotors overhead, saying, "Thanks, Reeni." Reeni simple nodded. Mark launched into the sky with a great downdraft of air, the world falling away underneath. It was simple enough to find the slaughterhouse. Mark had been there before. It was right over there. Mark got going. Soon he was at the slaughterhouse and surprise, surprise, he knew the guy working the line today. It was Sir Galen Greene-Shield, High Priest of Verdago.

He was actually the leader for the Paladin Collective in the settlement, and he greeted Mark at the door to the public part of the slaughterhouse." Hello, Mark! I just got a text from Reeni. You're here for Healthy Bodys?"" Hello, Sir Galen, and yes I am."" Come on in! Come on in. What are you doing with them, though? Studying?" Mark went with Sir Galen, saying, "Well… I can give people Powers. It's a big thing. I'll send out a missive later.

But since you're here, I want to talk about helping the Collective with more Powers. I cannot replicate any of the Pantheon's Powers, for all of my attempts to make my own Powers or Spells have come out half-formed.

'Incomplete'. But I can certainly help turn some people into Bi-Talents, or Tri-Talents, to help supplement the Chosen System." Sir Galen grinned brightly, and Vergado's hand was on the older man's shoulder for a small moment.

"Thank you kindly, Mark. We'll be sure to spread the word, but, ah! You'll be incredibly busy, so I'll keep the word small." Mark smiled.

"Not too small! We're headed into a war for the very future of humanity itself." Sir Galen hummed a little, face turning serious.

"That we are, Mark. That we are." Soon, Mark was inside the bullpen with sedated cattle that were still incredibly deadly to everyone they saw. They saw Mark. They charged him, trying to gore them with their horns, which was more than enough for Mark to latch on to their souls, to their Bindings, to strip them of Healthy Body or whatever they had and to add it to his collection.

When Mark finished with the cattle, he left the cattle fully asleep, then he killed them by popping their brains with a quick application of adamantium force. Then he put them into the hooks and he opened up their necks, letting them drain. Mark hadn't ever done butchery like this before, but it felt right to make food for people. He was 'using every part of the cow', too!

When Mark left, after explaining things to a few different guys on the line, he had a whole bunch of Healthy Bodys in storage and even a few stranger Powers. One bull gave him 'Impregnate', which the System identified as an Arcane Ability. Mark got a little uncomfortable about that one. It got him thinking about Uva and Sally and even Isoko a bit too much. So Mark changed up his thinking entirely, and thought about Lola, who had absolutely no sexual connotations to her at all…" Ah, shit.

I need to go see her, too," Mark muttered to himself, as he flew over the settlement, catching a glimpse of the cathedral of the Pantheon and all of its bright white, tall towers. Lola would be there. And now that Mark was thinking about it, about what he could do for her now, Mark smiled.

"Quark? Send a message to Lola. I want to meet her now, if she can." Mark was already flying toward the cathedral when Lola's reply came in. Mark altered his trajectory. Lola met him right outside of the Inquisitor's Hall. Mark brought up the idea of switching out her broken Body Power for something else. He had lots of options! Well… Not that many options, but some of them were really good. Lola looked unsure in many different ways."

I have Strength Unending, Lola," Mark said, "It could form the basis of anything truly fantastic. I have Transcendent Body, which makes you practically unkillable. Strong Body, if you want a boring option, but a 2. 5x modifier is still good. Really good, Lola, and… And there's a simple Healthy Body, too?" Mark lost his steam at the end because Lola was not reacting with joy at all. Lola stood poised. Proper. Worryingly unmoved. Lola's Body Power had been broken long ago, and now Union was pretty much all she had.

So she needed something better… right? So why wasn't she saying anything?" Lola… You do… Do you want something, right? Something. Something is better than nothing? And I can always give you something else better, later."" It feels wrong, Mark. I can't tell you why, because I don't know why. I am sorry."

"… Okay? We're… We're going to war, though. We're in a war. You were almost killed. If you would have been outside during the attack—"" I was outside," Lola admitted.

"I did die. Jessie brought me back." A rush of tears fell from her eyes like a paired stream falling down a stone-faced mountain.

"It was beautiful. Freyala's realm. It was… it was beautiful, Mark. But she said I wasn't done, if I didn't want to be done. She opened the way back and… And I came back and everything seems duller, and I am sorry I didn't tell you sooner." Mark's heart felt like it had stopped. Lola had died? No… No. She was right there. Right here. Mark rushed her, holding on to her, hugging her strongly, tears falling, as he said, "But you're fine! You're fine! You're here and you're fine!"

Lola held Mark as Mark started sobbing. - - Mark crashed onto his bed, in his room of the house that Eliot had built. Half of the day was gone, but it felt like a week had passed in the last hour. Isoko, Sally, and the witch girls were over in the living room. Andria and Derek were there, too. They were talking about things and they had seen Mark come in, but Mark instantly went for his room and then he had crashed, closing the door behind him. Mark lay on the soft sheets for a moment longer…

And then Mark sat up, saying, "Quark. Call Jessie Stills… Or Cade Waterson. Jessie first."" Jessie went to voicemail. Calling Cade." After a few rings, the phone clicked." Hello?" Cade asked, unsure." Hello, Cade. This is Mark."" OH! Uh. Sir! Hello."" Don't need to do that, Cade, uh… So I want to talk a while about your new Powers, and if you like them, and all of that. I got wind of what Quark recorded when you were talking at Mind-speeds at him—"" I love my new Powers, sir.

I said what I said in those moments out of fear and anger."" Okay, sure. I'll believe you… But I understand you're on overwatch for Jessie? I don't want anything from either of you, except to say thank you. Jessie resurrected someone very dear…" Mark choked up. He powered through the pain in his throat.

"He resurrected someone… very dear to me, and I wanted to tell him, and you, that if you ever need anything, do not hesitate to ask. I know he wants some sort of offensive Power and I can do that. I'll be doing that for a lot of people. So… I'm calling you to let you know not to hesitate to call if you need something. Anything at all. I'm rich as fuck, too, so… I got money! I'm sure neither of you will be wanting money, though… and that's all. Tell him that, please."" I will tell him this, sir."

"… Was he able to resurrect your brothers?"" No, sir. There's a… time frame. Proximity requirements as well, either to the corpse or the soul."" Ah… damn."" Yes, sir." Mark chuckled with gallows humor, saying, "Not very 'Resurrection Ghost' of him! … Ah, that was unkind. Uh. Tell him that I'll keep an eye out for any Seer-type Powers. Probably Manipulation-based. Those should give him infinite range easily enough. Probably a good Body Power, too, to make him more robust. Transcendent Body?

Is that going well for you?"" I'll let him know, sir, and I am still figuring it out, sir. So far I seem rather… sturdy."" Good luck, Cade. And you can call me Mark. Tell Jessie that he can call me Mark, too, please. And call me anytime!"" Yes, s— Mark." Mark hung up, and then he sighed with relief. He went out and visited with the girls and Derek— But Isoko was there, in the hallway. She asked, "You okay?"" Lola died in the attack but Jessie resurrected her."

In the living room, Andria gasped, Sally shuddered, Derek winced as he had probably already known that, and the witches remained however they were. Mark's eyes were too filled with tears to notice much, and then his Unionsense felt like it was utterly dissolving. Isoko held on to Mark, and Mark let it flow again.